Book excerpt: In Man Before God, the mystic Adrienne von Speyr offers her reflections on this personal encounter with the God who is eternal love. Acknowledging the limitations of man in the face of the boundlessness of God, she considers both the various ways God continues to speak to man--through his Word in Scripture, through his Son in the sacraments, though saints and neighbors--as well as the necessity for man to respond. Through her guidance, we come to see every circumstance as an invitation to encounter and worship God. From this perspective she explores with clarity and simplicity such topics as: the meaning of prayer and contemplation living in the Word the relationship between discipleship and Eucharist the place of Mary and the Church the meaning of work and the religious life, joy and truth, knowledge and darkness